Staff Engineer / Tech Lead, Zum

Backend Platform

$220-260k

+bonus and equity

AWS
Python
Java
Node.js
Expert level
San Francisco Bay Area

Office located in Redwood City, CA

Zum

Student transportation services

Open for applications

Zum

Student transportation services

201-500 employees

B2BArtificial IntelligenceLogisticsTransportRidesharing

Open for applications

$220-260k

+bonus and equity

AWS
Python
Java
Node.js
Expert level
San Francisco Bay Area

Office located in Redwood City, CA

201-500 employees

B2BArtificial IntelligenceLogisticsTransportRidesharing

Company mission

To bring student transporation into a new era enabling greater safety, sustainability, equity, and transparency.

Company mission

To bring student transporation into a new era enabling greater safety, sustainability, equity, and transparency.

Led by a woman
Top investors

Few candidates hear
back within 2 weeks

18% employee growth in 12 months

Our take

The largest mass transit system in the US is student transportation, and it’s more than double the size of all others combined. It’s rife with inefficiencies, however: circuitous routes mean many students are spending more time travelling and less time sleeping, exercising, or participating in enrichment activities, affecting student outcomes and inequalities.

Zum is looking to overhaul school transport with the help of cloud computing and AI. It has a central hub from which it manages route planning and vehicle assignments across 4,000 areas and school districts in California, meaning fleet deployment, maintenance, and operational efficiency can be optimized. It also offers cameras and tracking in vehicles, and is committed to having a fully electric, 10,000-strong bus fleet by 2025.

It's an ambitious plan, but it’s clear that the US school busing system is in dire need of an overhaul. We’re seeing startups like Via offer a similar service to NY schools, gathering similarly strong momentum. With Zum fast approaching Unicorn status, and its California roll-out continuing without a hitch, it appears, for now, to be leading the modern student transportation startup pack.

Kirsty headshot

Kirsty

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle

Benefits

  • Medical, dental and vision benefits, including paid membership to One Medical
  • Unlimited vacation policy
  • Free daily catered lunches + fully stocked kitchen at HQ
  • Ability to have a huge impact at an early-stage, mission-driven startup
  • Fun office culture and a team you would be proud to work with

Company values

  • Customer Obsessed - We obsess about our customers’ needs. We delight and wow them by going above and beyond. We work diligently to gain and keep their trust
  • Think Big. Execute Meticulously - We think big. We scale hurdles, and we invent new paths. We're never satisfied. We're agile. We're always moving; we're always delivering with speed
  • Do Things The Right Way - We hold the highest integrity and always do what's right, regardless of what it takes
  • Build Better Communities - We’re committed to our mission of helping families and schools realize their full potential

Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)

Jun 2024

$32m

GRANT

Jan 2024

$140m

SERIES E

Total funding: $368.8m

This company has top investors

Leadership

Ritu Narayan

(Co-Founder & CEO)

Worked as a Lead Product Manager at Yahoo!, eBay, then took up a Sloan Fellowship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Vivek Garg

(Co-Founder & COO)

Spent over a decade as a Major in the Indian Army, then went on to found and lead BAPAR, before taking up a Researcher role at Stanford University's SEED Institute.

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